Proof Through the Night

Smells Like ...

2006-12-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

Am I the only person on the Interwebs who thinks that it's really, really funny that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's parliamentary coalition is called the Sweet Scent of Service?

If You Think Our Media Sucks, Remember It Could Be Worse

2006-11-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Thank heaven for the British tabloids, which provide us with important information like this, from the Sun (all emphasis in the original, of course):

DUMMY Bryan Boniface could lose his job at Madame Tussauds — after posing for snaps GROPING star waxworks.

One shows him pulling down Kylie Minogue’s hotpants and kissing her BUM.

In others, taken during night shifts, he FONDLES Penelope Cruz and J-Lo. He is also seen beating up Sven Goran Eriksson, throttling London mayor Ken Livingstone and grabbing disabled Professor Stephen Hawking.

Bryan’s ex Sofia Oliveira leaked the shots when their romance ended.

Bryan, of London, said: “I’m in hot water.”

And, since a story like this is worthless without pictures, the Sun delivers:

All I can say is that messing with a wax Stephen Hawking is clearly going too far.

Thanksgiving Humor

2006-11-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

I read this on Fark today, and it seemed seasonally appropriate:

When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, they did some astronaut training on a Navajo Indian Reservation. One day a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who only spoke Navajo, asked a question, to which his son translated. "What are the guys in the big suits doing?" A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. The old man got really excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon. Recognizing a promotional opportunity, the NASA crew found a tape recorder. After the old man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate. He refused. So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation, where the rest of residents listened and laughed, but they too refused to translate the elder's message to the moon. Finally, NASA called in an official government translator. He reported that the moon messages said, "Watch out for these assholes; they've come to steal your land!"

Clear As Mud

2006-11-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Chris Bowers reports that likely 2008 Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has recently purchased a huge stake in Clear Channel, which is (unless I'm very much mistaken) the nation's largest radio chain with something like 1200 stations, in a deal valued at $26.7 billion. What could possibly go wrong? Or, put another way, is "Mitt Romney" merely the English translation of "Silvio Berlusconi?"

Damn that liberal media, anyway!

If It Looks Like a Lame Duck, Walks Like a Lame Duck, and Quacks Like a Lame Duck, It's Probably Being Appointed To the Federal Bench

2006-11-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Via Kevin Drum, I see that President Halfwit is at it ~~again~~ still:

Lawmakers and others had been waiting to see whether Bush would renominate four particularly controversial appeals court candidates whose nominations had expired without Senate action. He did. The four include two nominees to the Fourth Circuit in Richmond: Terrence Boyle, a district court judge in North Carolina and a former aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, and Defense Department General Counsel William Haynes, who became a symbol of the Bush administration’s policies on terrorism, interrogations and other wartime powers. In addition, William Myers, a lobbyist and critic of environmental rules, was renominated for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, and Michael Wallace of Mississippi, rated unqualified for the appeals court by an American Bar Association panel, was renominated for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.

These nominees are so bad that they couldn't get through the Republican-dominated Senate back when the Republicans believed they would always dominate the Senate. Renewing their nominations now is a pathetic waste of time, a blatant sop to the vanishing base, and a clear signal that the Junta does not intend to play nice when the new Congress takes over - but then, we knew that.

Snarky Goodness

2006-11-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

Atrios has several posts up today about the freak show that is Trent Lott, but my favorite is the one in which he quotes a headline from Fark:

Trent Lott selected as Senate Minority Whip, because if there's one thing that Trent Lott likes, it's whipping minorities.

Atrios goes on to add:

And, yes, that's over the top and highly uncivil. Of course, opposing anti-lynching laws was a bit uncivil too.

To which I can only add a mirthless chuckle.

Diplomatic Inanity

2006-11-15T12:31:00.000-08:00

From Think Progress:

Yesterday, the White House website featured a graphic with the flags of the three countries he’s visiting on his trip — Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. One problem: instead of displaying the Vietnamese flag, the White House graphic featured the old flag of South Vietnam. That flag hasn’t been the official flag of Vietnam since South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam in 1975.

The display of the old flag is highly incendiary to the current Vietnamese government. NPR reported last year the display of the old flag anywhere in the United States — much less on the White House website — "could create tension amid warming relations between the United States and Vietnam."

What Were You Doing Five Years Ago Today?

2006-11-15T12:11:00.000-08:00

Five years ago today, I was a little preoccupied:

By the way, I know that all parents believe that their little darlings are just the smartest EVER, but I have a sincere question for all the proud mothers and fathers out there: How many five-year-olds actually discover on their own that, if x+y=z, then z-y=x? Because frankly, I thought it was a bit frightening.

Anyway, happy birthday Spuddy Buddy!

A Public Service Announcement

2006-11-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

By the way, if you have yet to follow the link in my sidebar to the currently featured book, you should. The book is How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?, and it belongs on literally every bookshelf. Even if, for some strange reason, you don't want to purchase How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way? - and, really, I can't imagine why you wouldn't - there are two good reasons to follow the link anyway. First, you can enjoy the Amazon editor's description of the book, which is itself a literary masterpiece:

I think constricting anus 100 times and denting navel 100 times in succession everyday is effective to good-bye depression and take back youth. You can do so at a boring meeting or in a subway. I have known 70-year-old man who has practiced it for 20 years. As a result, he has good complexion and has grown 20 years younger. His eyes sparkle. He is full of vigor, happiness and joy. He has neither complained nor born a grudge under any circumstance. Furthermore, he can make love three times in succession without drawing out.

...and there's more.

The second good reason to follow the link is that you can then go to any other item Amazon sells and purchase that, instead (although it couldn't possibly be as good as How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?), and I still get a nice cash reward. So just do it. And don't forget to constrict your anus while you're at it.

"A Few Hours of Digging Will Uncover a Lot of Dirt."

2006-11-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

The always-indispensable Billmon pointed me to this fascinating article:

This week’s Democratic wave, which swept at least six Jewish candidates into the U.S. House and two into the Senate and capsized the careers of several high-ranking Republicans, could also lead to probes of charges of corruption and misuse of funds in the Bush administration’s faith-based initiative.

With Democrats about to take control of the House — and aggressive lawmakers like Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) set to assume critical committee chairs — the House is expected to assume wide-ranging oversight responsibilities that critics say have been largely ignored since the arrival of a Republican administration in 2001.

“What the Republicans and various members of the Republican constituency really fear is that a Democratic Congress will use its investigative machinery to look into the dealings between Republican politicians and faith-based groups,” said Johns Hopkins University political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg.

Millions of taxpayer dollars have gone to religious groups through faith-based programs established by executive order, not legislation. Ginsberg said those grants include many instances of fraud and “money laundering. A few hours of digging will uncover a lot of dirt.”

Remember - money laundering makes the baby Jesus cry.

Huh?

2006-11-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

I hope that this is just plain wrong - otherwise, it confirms all of my worst opinions about the useless-as-tits-on-a-bull Democratic party. From the New Republic, via Political Wire:

Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities.

The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford.

Supposedly, it is James Carville - not previously known to be a mental defective, but I guess one never knows - shopping this "idea" around. So let me get this straight: The guy who fought tooth and nail for the so-called 50 State Strategy, which is to say the guy responsible more than any other single individual for the royal ass-whuppin' visited this week upon the criminal syndicate known as the Republican Party, is being targeted for elimination by the very people responsible for the Democrats' recent string of electoral humiliations. And who do the establishment Democrats like to take Dean's place? A guy just like them - someone with a center-right philosophy and a losing record. Unfortunately, that sounds about right.

Dead Man Walking

2006-11-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

One of the two men shown shaking hands in this photograph is a vicious, half-bright thug with delusions of absolute power and a striking inability to recognize either reality or minimal notions of human decency, and who - thankfully, even miraculously - has recently been cast forever into the dustbin of history.

And Saddam Hussein is even worse.

The Hard Part

2006-11-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

"What do we do now?"

Update: tristero gets it.

Hide the Women and Children, and Save the Good China!

2006-11-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

My long hiatus is about to come to a close - watch this space for the return of Buck Mulligan, pig-headed as ever and with an even worse temper than before.

Isn't It Queer

2006-08-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Speaking of the political parties - which once again brings me to the topic of how I dislike the Democrats more than any other party except for the Republicans, the Libertarians, the Greens, and all the rest - here's a lovely story from Alabama:

The Democratic primary victory of Alabama lesbian Patricia Todd for a seat in the statehouse was overturned by a party committee tonight. The committee vote was 5-0. Had the committee not reversed the election, which Todd won by 59 votes, she would have become the first openly gay elected official in the state's history. No Republican has entered the race in the overwhelmingly Democratic district. Todd's race was to determine who would represent District 54 in Birmingham in the statehouse....

The committee disqualified Todd and her opponent, Gaynell Hendricks, because they had not filed a required campaign finance report on time. The same rule has been ignored by all candidates since 1988 and the Associated Press has reported that this year's party nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor have not filed the reports as well....

Tonight's committee vote does not mark the end of the matter. The Alabama state party chairman, Joe Turnham, told the AP he was "very surprised" at the committee's decision and a party spokesperson said the vote may be reversed by the executive committee when it meets Saturday to pick a new candidate for the seat.

Good for Mr. Turnham; I hope that the executive committee does in fact reverse this awful decision. (By the way, how many layers of review do the Alabama Democrats need in their nominating process, anyway?) If this outrage stands, however, I would hope that the national Democratic Party takes some time to evaluate its affiliation with the Alabama Democrats.

Party On!

2006-08-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a letter which I sent today to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

I confess that I am baffled by the general hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing inspired by US Judge Thomas Zilly's ruling (recently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals), holding that Washington's political parties may limit participation in their nominating primaries. Surely it's clear that the parties are private - not public - entities, existing in part for the purpose of nominating representatives to stand in the general election. It makes no more sense to suggest that I have the right to participate in the parties' nomination process, despite my choice not to join a party, than to suggest that I am entitled to participate in the selection of Microsoft's board of directors when I am not a shareholder, or to participate in selecting this year's Oscar winners when I am not a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This, to me, seems so obvious as to be beyond reasonable debate.

That said, I am likewise baffled by the notion that the parties are entitled to conduct their nominating primaries at public expense. The parties are free to select their nominees by whatever means they prefer - whether by primary, by convention, or by the drawing of straws - but they have no right to receive a subsidy from the taxpayers to underwrite the cost of their nominating process.

Leave the political parties free to select their nominees with or without inviting the participation of the general public, in any manner they choose. But in any case insist that they, and they alone, bear the cost.

Pat Buchanan Wins the Immunity Idol!

2006-08-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

In a weird display of synchronicity, I happened across these two stories one right after the other. First, I learn (by way of Atrios) that the crazy old uncle of contemporary American politics, Pat Buchanan, is at it again:

On NBC's Today, David Gregory provided Pat Buchanan a forum to discuss Buchanan's newly released book, which includes a claim that the United States must keep "Americans of European descent" from becoming the "minority" in order to "survive[]."

It's interesting that Buchanan considers racial superiority a matter of survival, because just moments before reading about Buchanan's idiocy I happened to read this:

Fueled by critics who slammed its lack of diversity, CBS's Survivor has unveiled a new twist for its upcoming season: Contestants will be divided by ethnicity.

When it premieres Sept. 14, Survivor: Cook Islands will feature 20 castaways divided into four tribes: black, white, Asian and Latino....

Until the tribes merge later in the season, the four teams will battle each other and, perhaps, racial stereotypes. "There are going to be people looking for stereotypes: Will this tribe be smarter than this tribe, or will this tribe be faster than this tribe?" says [Survivor host Jeff] Probst. "That's why I think it's fun. But five people on a tribe do not represent an entire ethnic group."

Say, that does sound like fun! What could be more entertaining than some good, old-fashioned racial stereotyping? But I'll tell you what I'm really looking forward to - the following season of Survivor will feature teams consisting respectively of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. It will be called Survivor: Holy Land, and the winner gets Lebanon. The rumor is that Ann Coulter simply kicks ass at the reward challenges. Stay tuned!

Keeping Us Safer!

2006-08-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

No comment:

A "law-enforcement-sensitive" information alert on terrorist activity stamped repeatedly "Do NOT release to the public or media" was sent out Monday to pretty much every media organization in Southern Arizona.

In a Keystone Kops-style maneuver, Lt. Karl Woolridge, in the Special Operations Section of the [Pima County] Sheriff's Department, sent an e-mail to members of the media instead of to its intended recipients.

Sheriff's Capt. Oscar Miranda, commander of the support operations division, said Woolridge simply pushed the wrong button and sent the message to the wrong e-mail group....

So what of Woolridge, who mistakenly sent out the alert?

"We're going to slap him silly, yes," Miranda said.

Raccoonteurs

2006-08-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Our lovely state capital makes the news (emphasis supplied):

Psycho killer raccoons terrorize Olympia

A fierce group of raccoons has killed 10 cats, attacked a small dog and bitten at least one pet owner who had to get rabies shots, residents of Olympia say.

Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night.

"It's a new breed," said Tamara Keeton, who with Kari Hall started a raccoon watch after an emotional neighborhood meeting drew 40 people. "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid...."

Lisann Rolle said she began carrying an iron pipe when she goes outside at night after being bitten by raccoons when she tried to pull three of them off her cat Lucy. She obtained rabies shots afterward as a precaution.

"I was watching her like a hawk, but she snuck out," Rolle said. "Then I heard this hideous sound — a coyote-type high pitch ... It was vicious. They were focused on ripping her apart."

The attacks have been especially shocking because raccoons came within five feet (1 1/2 meters) of cats without any problem in previous years, Benjamins said.

"We used to love the raccoons. They'd have their babies this time of year, and they were so cute. Even though we lived in the city, it was neat to have wildlife around," he said, "but this year, things changed. They went nuts...."

Meanwhile, residents have hired Tom Brown, a nuisance wildlife control operator from Rochester, Washington, to set traps, but in six weeks he has caught only one raccoon. He and Carrell said raccoons teach their young — and each other — to avoid traps.

Brown said he had seen packs of raccoons this big but none so into killing.

"They are in command up there," he said.

As a public service, here are some important raccoon facts to remember (from Wikipedia):

* Raccoons seeking food in wine cellars and storage areas have become a threat to Germany's wine industry.

* In French, the common raccoon is called raton laveur, or "little washing rat."

* Raccoons have caused about half of the documented animal rabies cases in the United States.

* Raccoon fat has a strong flavor and a foul smell, so it should be removed before cooking (roating is the suggested method). Sweet potatoes are the preferred accompaniment to raccoon, either as stuffing or a side dish.

"I've HAD it with these motherfuckin' raccoons in my motherfuckin' wine cellar!"

Details, Details

2006-08-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a question for my well-informed readers - or, at least, those better informed than I am (which is probably most of you): Where, exactly, were the two Israeli soldiers whose capture led to the current shooting war with Hezbollah captured from? We are told that Hezbollah fighters crossed the border into Israel to snatch the soldiers, but so far as I know, the only specific report is the timeline accompanying this graphic from last week's Newsweek (click on "detail," and scroll to the top) which says, "July 12 Hizbullah attacks military posts in the Shebaa Farms area and abducts two Israeli soldiers."

I have not been able to verify this information; even pro-Palestinian media have not repeated this specific detail so far as I can find. However, if this is accurate, then the whole Israeli story gets problematic. Shebaa Farms is disputed territory, claimed by multiple nations:

How Chebaa Farms, which the Israelis call Mount Dov, became so important in the ongoing battle between Israel and Hezbollah serves as a window into the byzantine complexities of Middle East politics and rivalries.

A relatively tiny piece of mountainous turf estimated to cover from four to 10 square miles, Chebaa Farms is now a closed military zone occupied by the Israelis. Outsiders are unwelcome and nearby residents merely grunt when asked about it. One U.S.-produced study describes it as "14 abandoned orchards, pastures and mini-farms."

"It's a totally artificial issue," explained Gerald Steinberg, director of the Program on Conflict and Diplomacy at Bar Ilan University. "It's clearly Syrian territory, but Syria doesn't really want it. Lebanon now claims it, but they clearly hadn't heard of it before 2000. Israel has it right now, but it's of no importance."

And yet it's symbolically important to everyone. One expert called it "a red herring, but an important red herring."

That importance, analysts say, grew out of the Israeli decision to leave troops on Chebaa Farms after their 2000 departure from southern Lebanon.

With Israeli troops gone from southern Lebanon, Israeli officials hoped Hezbollah no longer had an excuse to attack them as occupying forces.

The United Nations certified that Israel had left Lebanon, holding that Chebaa Farms belonged to Syria's Golan Heights, which Israel seized in 1967 during the Six Day War.

But Lebanese officials insisted that Syria had given them the land, and Syria agreed. That made Chebaa Farms the last piece of Israeli-occupied Lebanon, and Hezbollah has since attacked it more than 30 times. The most famous incident took place just months after the pullout. Three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed.

If anyone can confirm that the present conflict began with a Hezbollah "incursion" into the disputed territory - or, in the alternative, confirm that it did not - I would be most interested.

(Cross-posted to my diary at Daily Kos, to increase the likelihood that someone actually reads it and responds.)

Housekeeping

2006-08-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

One of the few benefits of managing an obscure, little-read blog is that the comment spammers have mostly left me alone. Obviously, however, this is no longer the case. Thus, I have been forced to activate the feature which requires commenters to type in a random "keyword" (actually, just random letters) before posting comments. I doubt that this will inspire more of you to leave comments, but it will I hope seriously inconvenience my new friends from Russia who advertise cruises, fake Viagra, and so forth.

I Get Letters

2006-08-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

From a reader:

Time to coin a new term in your blog. Yesterday Israel declared a 48 hour halt to air operations in S. Lebanon in the wake of the disaster caused by their attack on Qana while Condi was in Israel. Condi left for home and within 12 hours Israel launched an air attack in S. Lebanon on the car of a Lebanese military officer.

Seems like Condi don't get no respect - thus "Condi Dangerfield".

I like it - in fact, I like it even more than Billmon's pet name, Madame Supertanker. From now on, "Condi Dangerfield" it is.

Ann Gets Her Wish

2006-08-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.

Ann Coulter, Sept. 13, 2001

Despite his Islamic upbringing, [alleged Jewish Federation of Seattle shooter Naveed Haq] studied the Bible and was baptized in a Christian church last year.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Aug. 1, 2006

Update: Hominid Views has more.

Watch This

2006-07-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have ranted before about what I call "security as theater" - policies and actions designed to make it look as though the government is working to provide genuine security when, in fact, it is doing no such thing. Here's the latest disgusting example:

You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.

The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.

"Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons, acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft ... and they did nothing wrong," said one federal air marshal.

These unknowing passengers who are doing nothing wrong are landing in a secret government document called a Surveillance Detection Report, or SDR. Air marshals told 7NEWS that managers in Las Vegas created and continue to maintain this potentially dangerous quota system....

"That could have serious impact ... They could be placed on a watch list. They could wind up on databases that identify them as potential terrorists or a threat to an aircraft. It could be very serious," said Don Strange, a former agent in charge of air marshals in Atlanta. He lost his job attempting to change policies inside the agency.

That's why several air marshals object to a July 2004 memo from top management in the Las Vegas office, a memo that reminded air marshals of the SDR requirement.

The body of the memo said, "Each federal air marshal is now expected to generate at least one SDR per month."

"Does that memo read to you that Federal Air Marshal headquarters has set a quota on these reports?" Kovaleski asked.

"Absolutely, no doubt," an air marshal replied.

A second management memo, also dated July 2004, said, "There may come an occasion when you just don't see anything out of the ordinary for a month at a time, but I'm sure that if you are looking for it, you'll see something."

Another federal air marshal said that not only is there a quota in Las Vegas for SDRs, but that "it directly reflects on (their) performance evaluations" and on how much money they make.

Hey, I thought that the government opposed quotas - or is that only with respect to affirmative action?

Moral Clarity

2006-07-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Relativism is out of fashion these days, if indeed it ever was in fashion. The soundbite that probably best captures the essence of the times is George Bush, speaking two months after the World Trade Center fell: "You are with us, or with the terrorists. And if you are with the terrorists, you will face the consequences."

Maybe. Then again, maybe our moral absolutism is a relative thing, after all.

Consider, for example, this hypothetical - suppose there is a stateless ethnic group living in some Middle Eastern country. Suppose that members of a militia, working on behalf of this stateless group, cross the border into the territory of a United States ally, and attack both military and civilian targets there in an effort to eject that particular ally from disputed territory (which the guerrillas consider their own homeland). The government of this particular ally wants to respond with airstrikes against the infrastructure which supports the guerrillas. How should the United States respond to these circumstances?

Some might say that our ally should show restraint. Some might say that, despite a mounting number of casualties inflicted by the cross-border insurgents, our ally should be patient and allow the mechanism of international diplomacy time to work.

And among those who would say such a thing is our own government:

Israel launched airstrikes on Lebanon in response to attacks by Hizbullah earlier this month, and George W. Bush called it "self-defense." But what to tell the Turks, who over the last week lost 15 soldiers to terror attacks launched by separatist Kurds from neighboring Iraq? Many Turkish leaders are pressing for cross-border tactical air assaults on the guerrillas. But Bush, fearing yet another escalation of the Middle East's violence, urged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold off. "The message was, unilateral action isn't going to be helpful," says a senior U.S. official, describing the 15-minute phone conversation. "The president asked for patience."

And so Turkish forces are holding fast — for now — in deference to their half-century alliance with the United States. But that patience is bound to be challenged, probably sooner than later. Domestic political pressures are building to take a leaf from Israel's book and hit back at the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Since the beginning of the year, attacks on Turkish military garrisons and police stations have escalated across the country's southeast, along with random shootings, bombings and protests — many of them, authorities suspect, organized in Iraq. Already the Turkish military has laid detailed plans for possible helicopter-and-commando assaults, government sources tell NEWSWEEK. Meanwhile, Ankara's frustration with Washington has grown palpable. For all the Bush administration's repeated promises to crack down on the PKK, little if anything has happened. With elections coming next year, Erdogan could be pardoned for soon concluding that his forbearance might prove politically dangerous. "Moderate, liberal people in Turkey are becoming increasingly anti-American," warns Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. "That isn't good."

So, there you have it - you're either with us, or with the terrorists. Except when you're not. The irony here, of course, is that the administration is actually right when it comes to Turkey and the Kurds, but is unable to apply the lesson elsewhere.

***

In other Armageddon-related news, here's the funniest thing I read all day (dateline: Bizarro World):

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cautioned Syria and Iran that they face further isolation if they try to scupper US-led attempts to get a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.

Amish Paradise

2006-07-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

For those who may enjoy that sort of thing, here's my new favorite porn site. From the same people who brought you the Anthrax-o-gram ("Mommy lives with the angels because anthrax ate her brains").

Deadeye

2006-07-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

So, it's come to this - Israeli aircraft "deliberately" targeting United Nations locations. The UN facility which came under fire - and in which four peacekeepers were killed - was clearly marked on a publicly available map. Furthermore, a senior officer from the Irish military had contacted IDF command at least six times to tell them that the shelling was getting too close. Still, Israel expresses "deep regret" for the bombardment, and insists it was an error. That would be more believeable perhaps, if the Israelis had not already demonstrated what good shots they are:

Note to Dick "Dick" Cheney - now that's some fancy shootin'!

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...

2006-07-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

I wish that the wrong-wing noise machine could decide precisely why it is that they are so obsessed with Bill Clinton even after a half decade out of office. The old gripe was that he liked girls - specifically, chubby girls in blue dresses - now, however, the complaint seems to be that he likes boys.

Either way, of course, Ann Coulter would fit the bill, Bill.

It's Been a Privilege

2006-07-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

As I was dark yesterday, I neglected to mention the exciting news that Judge Vaughn Walker (that's "Walker" as in "George Walker Bush" - he's reportedly the Empty Flight Suit's cousin!) of the US District Court for the Northern District of California did a very good thing:

A federal judge rejected on Thursday a request from the head of U.S. intelligence and other government officials to dismiss a lawsuit against AT&T which alleges the firm illegally allowed the government to monitor phone conversations and e-mail communications.

AT&T asked the court in late April to dismiss the case, and two weeks later the U.S. government also asked the federal judge to dismiss it, citing its state secrets privilege.

U.S. director of intelligence John Negroponte told the court in a filing that disclosing the information in the case "could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States."

In a 72-page ruling, Judge Vaughn Walker rejected that request regarding a case that has highlighted the domestic spying program acknowledged by President George W. Bush.

"The very subject matter of this action is hardly a secret," the U.S. District Court for Northern California judge wrote. "Public disclosures by the government and AT&T indicate that AT&T is assisting the government to implement some kind of surveillance program."

"The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one," he continued. "But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

This decision will certainly be appealed and the smart (or, perhaps, cynical) money says that it will be reversed. Judge Walker did his homework, however, and wrote a detailed, well-reasoned, 72 page order that the Ninth Circuit will have to treat seriously is it is to reverse.

Nothing But Net

2006-07-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

The big local story here in the Jet City is, of course, the imminent loss of the Sonics. Pay attention, because here's a good example of (a) what's wrong with sports, and (b) what's wrong with capitalism.

A group of local investors (headed by Starbucks' head bean, Howard Schultz) has agreed to sell the team to a group of investors from Oklahoma. The principle reason for the sale is the team's inability to turn a profit. It seems that Key Arena (remodeled only a decade ago) and the lease thereon (renegotiated concurrently with the remodel) are not economically viable - the owners claim to have lost $60 million over the last five years. That's a lot of lattés, to be sure. Thus, in the absence of a government subsidy to compensate for that loss, the team must be sold.

Here's the problem: Schultz and his partners bought the team in January, 2001, for $200 million. The price they received is reportedly in the neighborhood of $350 million. Thus, even accounting for the claimed $60 million loss, the outgoing owners made at least $90 million dollars over five years on a $200 million investment (not counting tax write-offs, salaries and consulting fees drawn, etc.). That's a pretty good little investment, if you ask me.

Now, I understand that it is possible to be asset-rich and yet be cash-poor. It matters very little how much an owner might gain in equity (assuming that the goal here is to avoid selling, and realizing that gain) if the year-to-year operating expenses are onerous. But - for all the begging for taxpayer assistance that the Sonics (and other teams similarly situated) have indulged in over the years, there has been no suggestion that the taxpayers get any stake in the equity in return. Essentially, the game is this: Heads, I win (handsomely increased equity value); tails, you lose (enormous operational subsidies).

This pattern is not restricted to sports, unfortunately. Lots of businesses do the same thing. This is the nut of the corporate welfare problem - businesses want subsidies of various sorts to shield their shareholders from risk and/or actual losses, but when the profits come (and they always come), then the shareholders reap the entire benefit.

As far as I'm concerned, either you're for a free market or you're not. If a corporation or an industry is going to accept a subsidy in the form of preferential tax treatment, government participation in R&D, or whatever, then the public ought to be treated as a stakeholder, and not as a red-headed stepchild. You pays your nickel (or your $200 million, as the case may be) and you takes your choice.

In the meanwhile, my goodbye message to the Sonics is this: Don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out.

A Few Bad Apples

2006-07-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

The only problem with the Geneva Conventions is that there is no analog for purely domestic matters:

Using electric shock, beatings and suffocation, Chicago police tortured criminal suspects into giving confessions during the 1970s and 1980s, the authors of a report said on Wednesday.

But the abuse inflicted on suspects by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge -- who has since been fired, lives in Florida and receives a full pension -- and detectives under his command occurred too long ago to pursue criminally, a four-year investigation concluded.

"We have concluded that there was violence and there was violence on more than one person," special prosecutor Robert Boyle told reporters.

"We have also concluded ... that based on our investigation, that if the statute of limitations had not run, we would seek a criminal indictment in three cases" from the 1980s.

In some cases, suspects were subjected to death threats and fake Russian roulette, lawyers representing suspects have said.

Earlier this year, the United Nations Committee Against Torture asked for a federal investigation of Chicago police torture, following an appeal from lawyers who have sued Burge and the city on behalf of dozens of suspects.

It's No Crime Being Poor (But You Still Have To Pay Your Fine)

2006-07-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have written before about my good friend who I'll call Todd (because his name is Todd). He's emblematic in my mind of a certain breed of centrist, non-partisan American voters - he voted twice for Clinton and remains a big fan, but also voted at least once (in 2004; I'm not sure about 2000) for Bush. He's environmentally aware and socially liberal and has no use for the Christian right, but his single biggest issue is security - he makes no bones about his 2004 vote being the direct result of 9/11 - and tends strongly toward economic conservatism. He's very much in favor of Social Security privatization, and supported the Bush tax cuts - which he believes (rightly or wrongly) were personally beneficial to him. He is, in short, no class warrior.

Just last week, Todd and I were enjoying a beautiful Seattle summer night on his boat (as I said - no class warrior, he), when out of nowhere he started to complain about the shameful way that certain financial "service" providers - banks, credit card companies, etc. - treat people who find themselves in financial difficulty. He was not talking here about illegal predatory lending, but rather about the fees, interest rate increases, subprime lending practices, and so forth which make full participation in the economy prohibitively expensive for the poor - or even the middle class who happen to hit a rough patch.

I thought about Todd today as I read this nugget from the New York Times via (Raw Story, for non-registration goodness):

Drivers from low-income neighborhoods of New York, Hartford and Baltimore, insuring identical cars and with the same driving records as those from middle-class neighborhoods, paid $400 more on average for a year’s insurance, the (registration-restricted) New York Times reports Wednesday. Excerpts:
The poor are also the main customers for appliances and furniture at “rent to own” stores, where payments are stretched out at very high interest rates; in Wisconsin, a $200 television can end up costing $700.

Those were just two examples among several cited in a report Tuesday showing that poor urban residents frequently pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year in extra costs for everyday necessities. The study said some of the disparities were due to real differences in the cost of doing business in poor areas, some to predatory financial practices and some to consumer ignorance.

The study, from the Brookings Institution, said finding ways to eliminate these added costs, often called a “ghetto tax,” could be an important new front in the fight against poverty.

For the most part, Americans - whatever their political leanings - value fairness. To the extent that any such "ghetto tax" reflects actual differences in the cost of doing business, most people would probably be fine with it. But when it comes to simply putting someone's balls in a vice just because you can, people will rally to support the underdog.

It goes without saying that few Republicans are likely to highlight this issue. Unfortunately, certain Democrats (Joe Biden comes immediately to mind) are just as myopic. But - if a candidate can frame this issue in a coherent manner and offer solutions that are not easily dismissed as "class warfare," he or she is likely to gain significant support. At this point, it seems that John Edwards (among national candidates) is uniquely positioned to exploit this issue, but there is no reason why he should own it exclusively, nor is there any reason why statewide candidates can't use it as well (consider that the insurance industry and retail mortgage brokers are usually state licensed). It would be nice to see some creative thinking in this regard from the Democrats, in 2006 and beyond.

It's Not a Bug; It's a Feature!

2006-07-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

The pinkos at Financial Times (via MSNBC) are questioning the conventional wisdom (emphasis supplied):

From the moment last Wednesday when Hizbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers, the Bush administration immediately held Iran and Syria responsible.

The White House mounted a systematic campaign on the US airwaves to get that message across while seeking to put pressure on the G8 summit to unite in confronting those two governments.

That it has become the received wisdom in the US that Iran was directing Hizbollah to deflect international pressure on Tehran's nuclear programme, is testimony to the Bush administration's ability to dominate the discourse in the mainstream media. The crisis has also demonstrated how it can rely on the support of the US foreign policy establishment – Democrat and Republican – when it comes to matters of vital national interest to the US and Israel.

Challenging these assertions, Iranian analysts and activists in the US – both those for and against the Iranian theocracy – are warning that such simplified arguments may not only be completely erroneous, but will also complicate the process of calming down the crisis while raising the chances of a direct conflict between Iran and the US.

And there you have it. It does not matter in the slightest whether Iran is actually the puppetmaster pulling Hezbollah's strings - what matters is that the American people believe that it is so. Indeed, it is essential. The Junta desperately needs a new Saddam (or a bin Laden who will show himself and stay put), a face (to caricature) and a place (to physically threaten), and an oppressed populace to dream of liberating. Without a corporeal enemy, the populace will lose its blood fever - and, without a frightened and enraged populace, the administration loses what little remains of its grip.

Iran suits this need to a fare-thee-well. Most Americans already loathe Iran, and have since 1979. Most Americans also fear Iran, what with their presumed nuclear program, their alleged meddling in Iraq, and their influence over gasoline prices (once again, think back to 1979-81).

Now, I don't know if Iran is using Hezbollah as a proxy force or not, although I am inclined to believe that their influence is somewhat removed, at best. Nor do I know if there is actually any chance of an actual American attack on Iran, although it is clear that our military options are severely limited, given our costly entanglement in Iraq. What is clear, however, is that certain players closely associated with the administration are loudly rattling their sabers - here, for example, is William Kristol playing an old familiar tune:

We have to be ready to use military force against Iran, if it comes to that. Think what this crisis would be like given what we now know about the Islamic Republic of Iran, its regime, its recklessness, its close, close ties to terrorist groups. Think what the world wore would be like with an Iran with nuclear weapons. This is a very interesting moment in that respect. You know? We are in a way lucky that Iran has revealed its aggression, its recklessness, its terror ties before they succeeded in becoming a nuclear power. We have to stop them from getting nuclear weapons. We can try diplomacy. I am not hopeful about that. We have to be ready to use force....

[A]lso the Iranian people dislike their regime. I think they would be – the right use of targeted military force — but especially if political pressure before we use military force – could cause them to reconsider whether they really want to have this regime in power. There are even moderates – they are not wonderful people — but people in the government itself who are probably nervous about Ahmadinejad’s recklessness.

Somehow, he managed to avoid saying explicitly that American troops would be showered with flower petals.

Right or wrong (and I admit that I think Israel's bombardment and invasion of Lebanon is wrong both strategically and morally), Israel is clearly responding to a genuinely perceived threat. America, on the other hand, is not. America is merely conjuring up a bogeyman in Tehran for purposes of domestic consumption - and that's not only wrong, it's ugly and cynical.

It is not, however, surprising.

Revisionism

2006-07-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

Via Josh Marshall (or, rather, a guest poster at his joint), I saw this jaw-dropping comment from David Brooks:

f you look at the jihadists, they had a victory in '79 by pushing the Soviets out of Afghanistan. They pushed the U.S. out of Lebanon. The pushed the Israelis out of Gaza and out of Lebanon. They're probably pushing the U.S. out of Iraq. They are on the march.

Iraq is part of that, but it's not the whole story. They are on the march, and they're sidelining the reasonable people in the Middle East, who may be the majority, but right now what's happening in the Middle East is the Israeli public opinion has gone to the center, for withdrawal, but Arab decision makers have gone to the extremes, to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Okay, who spotted the moment of idiocy? Let's break it down: "They" - the "jihadists," that is - are on the march. Reasonable people are being sidelined. And this is merely the continuation of a long process, which began with the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan.

Well, now, hold on there one minute. The "reasonable people" who were sidelined in Afghnaistan were the Soviet army, and their defeat came at the hands of what was virtually a US proxy. If Brooks and his ilk want to argue that America's arming of the mujahideen was a proximate cause of our current situation, I'm right there with them (and, by the way, if you have not yet read Charlie Wilson's War, now would be a good time). In retrospect, it has not turned out well, and I will leave it for another day to ponder whether we should have predicted that from the beginning. But it is clearly either (a) ignorant or (b) dishonest to list the Soviet defeat as an example of the Islamists sidelining "reasonable people," without bothering to mention that we made it happen. Of course, this being Brooks, perhaps it is both ignorant and dishonest.

"A War Between Lunatics"

2006-07-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

Billmon has the definitive word on what's happening in Israel and Lebanon right now. My only complaint about his analysis is that it mentions only in passing what appears to me to be the biggest danger - that Iran and Syria will be brought into the conflict in a major way (note that some reputable journalists, without obvious evidence, are already claiming that Iran is pulling the strings).

I don't know which is worse - the possibility that this assertion is true, or the possibility that it is false but presumed to be true. Either way, the likely result is open hostility between the US/Israel axis on one hand, and the dominant regional superpower (that would be Iran, thanks to "Dick" Cheney's rank incompetence) along with her ally of convenience (Syria) on the other. If this scenario should come to pass, then everything's in play - for example, the governments of Jordan and (especially) Egypt might find themselves in very precarious positions.

Mission Accomplished

2006-07-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

Be it noted that the government Iraq has officially assumed control of one of its eighteen provinces. Specifically, the British military has handed over the keys to Muthanna province, which is roughly the size of West Virginia but has about a fourth of the population (20,000 square miles; 550,000 people).

Be it also noted that Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki tried to commemorate the event with a speech (to whom is unclear, since the public was excluded), but had to give up when the public address system became useless due to a power failure.

TGIF

2006-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

These folks predict that I will die in less than 26 months. Bummer.

Laughter Is the Best Medicine

2006-07-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Via Needlenose:

A new Gallup poll shows that, for the first time, Bush's approval rating has fallen below 50% among total fucking morons, and now stands at 44%. This represents a dramatic drop compared to a poll taken just last December, when 62% of total fucking morons expressed support for the president and his policies.

The current poll, conducted by phone with 1,409 total fucking morons between May 4 and May 8, reveals that only 44% of those polled believe the president is doing a good job, while 27% believe he is doing a poor job and 29% don't understand the question....

Faltering approval ratings for the president among a group once thought to be a reliable source of loyal support gives Republicans one more reason to be nervous about the upcoming mid-term elections. "If we can't depend on the support of total fucking morons," says Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), "then we've got a big problem. They're a key factor in our electoral strategy, and an important part of today's Republican coalition...."

Not all total fucking morons have turned their backs on the president. Jeb Larkin of Topeka, Kansas says he still fully supports Bush. "He is doing a great job. He is a great president. He is a great decider. I have a puppy. His tail sticks straight up and you can see his butt hole."

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

2006-07-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ha ha ha!

Update: You can help, here.

Comedy Gold

2006-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

Terrence Boyle, Bush's pick for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., said Wednesday that his aides' routine screening of cases for conflicts of interest "missed" the appearance in these instances.

"These situations were an oversight, an inadvertent mistake," Boyle wrote in a letter responding to questions by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

"Accordingly, I unknowingly and unintentionally participated in these cases while I held a minimal number of shares in one of the parties," Boyle added. "Whatever minor financial interest I may have had in the case in no way affected my decision-making or the outcome of the case...."

"I regret that the oversight occurred," Boyle wrote. "It certainly was not my intention to participate in a case where I held stock in one of the parties."
- Associated Press, July 13, 2006

You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!" How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal." Let's suppose he says back to you, "You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, 'I forgot'?" Two simple words: Excuuuuuse me!!"
- Steve Martin, 1977

Moral Equivalence

2006-07-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

Remember James Byrd, Jr., the black man lynched by three Texas crackers in 1998? If you will recall, he was dragged behind a pickup truck for about three miles, and (according to autopsy results) died only when his arm and head were ripped from his already-broken body. One of the murderers - a charming specimen named John William King - later bragged about the crime, writing "Regardless of the outcome of this, we have made history. Death before dishonor. Sieg Heil!"

Anyway, the prosecution and subsequent conviction of Ken Lay was just like that (emphasis supplied):

"I am glad to have known Ken Lay and glad that he was willing to reach down and touch people like me," said the Rev. William Lawson, pastor emeritus of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. "Ken was a rich and powerful man, and he could have limited his association to people who were likewise rich and powerful...."

More than 1,000 mourners gathered at First United Methodist Church, where Lay had been a member. They included friends, former Enron employees and erstwhile dignitaries, including former President George H.W. Bush, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and ex-Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, who collapsed just before the service began and was taken by ambulance to St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital.

Lawson likened Lay to James Byrd, a black man who was dragged to death in a racially motivated murder near Jasper eight years ago.

"Ken Lay was neither black nor poor, as James Byrd was, but I'm angry because Ken was the victim of a lynching," said Lawson, who predicted that history will vindicate Lay.

His comments, met by hearty applause, referred to Lay's recent federal trial on fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from Enron's unraveling in 2001 and four charges of bank fraud. Lay had planned to appeal his conviction and was awaiting sentencing when he died.

Yes, the two incidents were exactly the same, except for being completely different.

The Madcap Expires

2006-07-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

I really dislike post-Syd Barrett Pink Floyd, but Syd himself is another story - a lot of his work has been weirdly wonderful, and has profoundly influenced a couple of generations of charmingly countercultural artists (Robyn Hitchcock, anybody?). Tragically, Syd Barrett is dead from complications related to diabetes at the age of 60.

One of Those "Good News, Bad News" Things

2006-07-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

The bad news for the Boy King is that all five of the largest budget deficits in US history occurred during the presidency of a man named "Bush."

The good news is that one of those five huge deficits was actually his father's fault.

Hanging On the Telephone

2006-07-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

I might have to rethink my dislike for Adam Carolla. It's not just that he hung up on Ann Coulter; it's also that, before he hung up on her, he called her "babydoll."

And Now For Something Completely Different

2006-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, and your life is incomplete until you've heard and seen the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain perform "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the video is available for viewing or (yes!) download, here. Really, you must see this.

Thanks - if that's the right word - to PSoTD, who also asks readers to identify their two favorite Electric Light Orchestra songs.

Update: Also at YouTube, here.

Sticks and Stones

2006-07-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

I am currently offering a free subscription to the blog for the first reader who can provide a link to any corporate media (major metropolitan daily newspaper, network or cable news channel, weekly news magazine with a subscription base > 100 readers) covering the Mexican election without using the loaded, perjorative term "leftist" to describe Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But be warned - I expect that there will be no winner, and that I will be able to continue restricting my circulation to those who have paid dearly (one way or another).

On a related topic, I got quite a kick out of this post at Obsidian Wings, in which alleged "reasonable conservative" [sic] Charles Bird describes Hugo Chavez as a "democratically-elected dictator." But then, a tin ear for oxymoron is to be expected from someone who so obviously fancies himself a "right-wing intellectual."

Falling Out of the Basement

2006-06-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I linked to a story from the Middle East which scared the bejeebers out of me. Today, I read this:

Israel last night threatened to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh if Hamas militants did not release a captured Israeli soldier unharmed.

The unprecedented warning was delivered to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a letter as Israel debated a deal offered by Hamas to free Corporal Gilad Shalit.

It came as Israeli military officials readied a second invasion force for a huge offensive into Gaza.

Hamas's Gaza-based political leaders, including Mr Haniyeh, had already gone into hiding.

But last night's direct threat to kill Mr Haniyeh, a democratically elected head of state, sharply raised the stakes.

So far, only the Australian seems to have the story - I checked, and even al Jazeera hasn't confirmed it - so this may just be bad reporting. But if it's accurate, the story is an absolute nightmare. In the event that Israel follows through on such a threat, the result would be unimaginably bad; even making the threat represents a sharp break with international law (arguably) and normal standards of decency (certainly). It appears that my father may have been overly optimistic when he said (as he often did) that it was impossible to fall out of a basement.

Meanwhile, Back In Gitmo...

2006-06-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

I've seen this story in a couple of places today:

The US government said it could not find the men that Guantánamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The Guardian found them in three days.

Two years ago the US military invited Mr Mujahid, a former Afghan police commander accused of plotting against the United States, to prove his innocence before a special military tribunal. As was his right, Mr Mujahid called four witnesses from Afghanistan.

But months later the tribunal president returned with bad news: the witnesses could not be found. Mr Mujahid's hopes sank and he was returned to the wire-mesh cell where he remains today.

The Guardian searched for Mr Mujahid's witnesses and found them within three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. The fourth, it turned out, was dead. Each witness said he had never been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid's hearing.

Along the same lines, my jaw dropped when I encountered this nugget from the Los Angeles Times (via Hullabaloo, to avoid the LAT registration hassles; emphasis supplied):

The U.S. Navy lawyer who challenged the Bush administration's efforts to try terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, walked a professional tightrope between fellow officers trying to gain speedy convictions and what he considered a moral imperative to buck the chain of command and vigorously defend his client....

Swift was assigned to defend Hamdan by the Pentagon in November 2003 and initially was ordered by a superior officer to secure a plea bargain so there would be a timely conviction.

I can't imagine why some people don't think that accused "enemy combatants" could get a fair trial from the administration's ~~star chambers~~ military tribunals!

Memo to Mr. Justice Clarence Thomas: Blow Me

2006-06-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

I have not commented on the Supreme Court's landmark opinion issued yesterday in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld because I have yet to actually read the entire opinion (PDF) which, when the concurrences and dissents are included, runs 186 pages. Good commentary is available elsewhere, including careful analyses by Glenn Greenwald, and (especially) Marty Lederman and his colleagues at SCOTUSblog.

The cynic in me wonders how much difference the decision will make, at least in the short term. An executive branch which feels free to flaunt the power of Congress (which, after all, controls the pursestrings) is unlikely to grant much deference to the judicial branch (which controls almost nothing). In the longer term, the Court's recognition of the applicability of the Geneva Conventions may have some importance, but it is chilling to realize in this context that the administration is just one Court appointment away from a different result. I have never been overly impressed with Justice Stevens' jurisprudential skills - his heart is generally in the right place, but his opinions often border on the incomprehensible - but we must all hope for him (and Justice Ginsburg) to remain healthy for another two years.

The most telling moment in the decision, however, comes in Justice Thomas' dissent. I found this at ACSblog, via Atrios, and it appears at page 8 of the opinion (page 134 of the PDF, emphasis supplied):

As an initial matter, the plurality relies upon the date of the [congressional authorization for the use of military force]'s enactment to determine the beginning pointfor the “period of the war,” Winthrop 836, thereby suggesting that petitioner’s commission does not have jurisdiction to try him for offenses committed prior to the AUMF’s enactment. Ante, at 34–36, 48. But this suggestion betrays the plurality’s unfamiliarity with the realities of warfare and its willful blindness to our precedents. The starting point of the present conflict (or indeed any conflict) is not determined by congressional enactment, but rather by the initiation of hostilities.

For the record, the man who wrote this passage - who claims, by implication, a superior familiarity with the "realities of warfare" - has never worn a uniform or fired a shot in anger. The author of the plurality opinion, however - that would be Justice Stevens - served in the United States Navy during World War Two. The arrogance and the ignorance of Thomas' comment is truly breathtaking, even considering its source. It is also entirely consistent with the thinking of the people whom he serves.

Update: As usual, the Rude Pundit makes an excellent point (rudely):

Isn't the whole "five justices" or "five robed judges" overruling the "will of the people" device used by the right just the height of rhetorical bullshit? [...] 'Cause, like, wasn't it five justices who overruled the will of the people in Bush v. Gore? So, you know, let's just shut the fuck up about what five justices can do.

Ax Da President

2006-06-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I am no partisan Democrat, so I sometimes think that Daily Kos is a bit of a circle jerk (you should pardon the expression; I was just having a Tom DeLay moment). Still, how cool is it that regular folks like you and me can ask President Jimmy Carter questions, and he'll respond? You don't see stuff like this on CNN, I'll tell you what!

(Apologies to Norbizness for the stolen title.)

Shaved Beaver

2006-06-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

Classy guy, that Tom DeLay! “Everybody likes beaver, even women.”

Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse

2006-06-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

Let's hope that this announcement (which will probably get lost in the background noise here in the States, but which I expect may get much more attention elsewhere) is nothing but bluster:

A spokesman for gunmen in the Gaza Strip said they had fired a rocket tipped with a chemical warhead at Israel early on Thursday.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the claim by the spokesman from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.

On a practical level, this claim is probably pretty insignificant. If any of the Palestinian groups actually have chemical weapons (al-Aqsa Martyrs Bragades claims to have "about 20" such warheads suitable for delivery on thier missles), they are no doubt quite crude and ineffective. The symbolism of such an event, however, would be enormous.

Death and Taxes

2006-06-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

The other day, I happened to be visiting a Wal-Mart store. This is not something which I make a habit of doing - I think it may have been the first time I actually spent money at a Wal-Mart store - and I have some very bad feelings about Wal-Mart, despite their having been the only company who would hire my father after thirty-some years in retail (he needed the health insurance). And in any case, I found the store very difficult to shop, with terribly confused merchandising and a dearth of clerks on the floor (you can't expect them to keep their prices low and still hire a reasonable number of employees, what with the minimum wage being an onerous $5.15 an hour).

But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

I'm here to talk about the estate tax, which is apparently on life support. The subject brings to mind my visit to Wal-Mart, because (a) the various members of the Walton family are among the most vocal opponents of the estate tax, of course, and (b) after my brief visit, I notices a signature gatherer asking people to sign a petition urging repeal of the tax. This, of course, struck me as incredibly funny. I would wager that none - not a single one - of Wal-Mart's customers needs to worry about paying any estate tax. The petition should have been entitled "Please Raise My Taxes So That Paris Hilton Doesn't Have to Pay," but of course there were a number of people who had already signed. This does not surprise me - in the course of my practice, I have learned that many of the clients who come to me are terribly worried about estate taxes even though they are nowhere near having to pay any.

Anyway, I thought about all of this as I read Max's post about the real tax burden on middle-class American families - not the estate tax, but the birth tax. American children today are born with a crushing tax load already due, courtesy of our generation's profligate deficit spending - and, unlike the estate tax, the "birth tax" falls disproportionately on the poor and the middle class. My own son, born in 2001, inherited a "birth tax" of about $22,000. I fear that estate taxes, on the other hand, are the least of his worries, considering that his "estate" at this point consists mostly of an old Vespa motor scooter and some bitchin' albums from the 70's.

I wonder how the nice folks at Wal-Mart would feel if I started gathering signatures at their door urging repeal of the "birth tax?" I doubt that I would get very far.

iRod Shuffle, Special Edition: Words and Music by Bob Dylan

2006-06-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a special project in my mix disc efforts - some of my favorite Dylan covers. As Bob himself once said, "I've suffered for my art; now, it's your turn."

1. Mr. Tambourine Man (The Byrds): This live version is notable mostly for (a) some incredibly tight playing from the rhythm section, and (b) Dylan's own appearance (which can be identified by the crowd noise).

2. "All Along the Watchtower" (The Paperboys): Spanish/Celtic reinterpretation of Dylan's greatest Hendrix hit. Love those unison parts with banjo, pipe, and fiddle working out together!

3. "My Back Pages" (The Hollies): Some lovely harmonies on this otherwise pedestrian remake.

4. "I'll Keep It With Mine" (Rainy Day): Actually, I prefer the Fairport Convention version, but for whatever reason I chose this cover by a Paisley Underground supergroup featuring Susanna Hoffs on lead vocals.

5. "Absolutely Sweet Marie" (Jason and the Scorchers): This rockin' version features some "absolutely sweet" guitar work. Also features one of my favorite Dylan lyrics - "to live outside the law, you must be honest."

6. "It Ain't Me, Babe" (Johnny Cash and June Carter): A perfect pairing of song and artist.

7. "Desolation Row" (Grateful Dead): Worth the price of admission if only for Bob Weir's delivery of the line, "when you asked how I was doing, was that some kind of joke?" He does, however, screw up the line about "Ezra Pound and T.S. Elliot."

8. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (Marianne Faithfull): Nice cover, but what's up with the heavy breathing in the beginning, before the vocals actually start? Had the engineer never heard of the "mute" button?

9. "One Too Many Mornings" (The Association): This is one of two songs I want played at my funeral ("Keep Me In Your Heart" by Warren Zevon is the other). Not this version, though.

10. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" (Judy Collins): I've always had a crush on Judy Collins, so just shut up. I do wish she'd wake up, however.

11. "Masters of War" (The Long Ryders): Did you see Dylan do this song on Letterman's anniversary show 15 years or so ago? This version is even angrier, if you can believe that. I wish I could say it sounded dated.

12. "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)" (1910 Fruitgum Company): A perfect pairing of song and artist, Part II.

13. "Shelter From the Storm" (Manfred Mann's Earth Band): Weird, weird, weird. Fretless bass, proggy keyboards, and vocal overdubs so over the top as to be beyond imagination. What, was Jon Anderson busy?

14. "Blowin' In the Wind" (Robert Hazard): Who knew that this song would work so well as an early-80's New Wave anthem?

What are your favorite Dylan covers? Let me know in the comments.

Opposite Day

2006-06-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, I find myself on the same side of some issue as Antonin "Fat Tony" Scalia, and I shudder in fear and loathing. Today is such a day:

Banning flag burning, in the words of Justice Antonin Scalia, “dilutes the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered.”

Couldn't have put it better myself - which, under the circumstances, makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

Fuelish

2006-06-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Lying again, because that's just what he does. Last month, the Empty Flight Suit claimed that high gasoline prices were the result of "boutique fuels," mandated by local regulations which, the ol' gasbag himself claimed, "tend[] to cause the price [of gasoline] to go up." Today, his own Environmental Protection Agency (motto: "fiercely protecting the environment whenever it doesn't inconvenience our campaign contributors") says otherwise.

Dear Editor...

2006-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a letter I sent to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer today:

***

While I generally agree with much that Joel Connelly writes in his columns, his attacks against those of us who question Sen. Maria Cantwell's position on the Iraq war has become very nearly pathological. In today's column, he writes: "Razzing of Cantwell by peacenik absolutists has generated lots of publicity. Empty drums bang loudly."

Leaving aside for a moment Connelly's gratuitous and insulting characterization of Cantwell's critics - including some veterans of the armed forces, and members of the families of some of those now serving - as mere "empty drums," Connelly's thinking on this topic is inconsistent at best and dishonest at worst. Later in the same column, for example, when reciting a catechism of Cantwell challenger Mike McGavick's many faults, Connelly writes: "He believes the U.S. should stay in Iraq until the 'job is finished,' and that setting a withdrawal date 'gives advantage to America's terrorist enemies.'"

I have taken the time to review Sen. Cantwell's most complete recent statement on Iraq, as set forth in P-I correspondent Charles Pope's article from just last week entitled "Cantwell stands ground on Iraq," and I cannot see how her position outlined in that article differs materially from McGavick's. In Pope's article (and in the Senator's press release of June 14), Cantwell says that we "need to get Iraqi security forces to step up so we can begin bringing our troops home." She reiterated the same position in a press release yesterday, when she "underscored the need for Iraqi security forces to step up so the United States can begin bringing our troops home." Whatever else one may say about Cantwell's position on the war, she has been consistent. We must stay in Iraq, she believes, until the job is "finished," lest we "give advantage" to our enemies.

I acknowledge that Sen. Maria Cantwell has been an important force for the environment, against drilling in ANWR, in favor of a reasonable increase in the minimum wage, and in support of holding Enron accountable for its shameful attempted larceny of ratepayers in Washington and elsewhere. I admire her stands on these (and other) important issues. However, as important as each of these issues are, none of them are immediate matters of life and death - while meanwhile, our servicemen and -women are dying every day in Iraq, and Maria Cantwell has nothing of substance to say about the matter.

I will enthusiastically vote against Mike McGavick (which means, presumably, I will vote for Cantwell, since she has no credible primary opponent) for many of the reasons which Connelly outlines in his otherwise fine column. I will not, however, attack McGavick for his position on the war, while at the same time giving Cantwell a free pass for espousing the very same position. I would suggest that Connelly should avoid doing so as well.

Making Lemonade

2006-06-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

This represents new frontiers in spin:

The United States on Tuesday praised Japan''s decision to withdraw its ground troops from Iraq as "a positive step" indicating progress in the transformation of multinational forces'' mission there.

Referring to the Iraqi government''s announcement Monday of the handover of security responsibility in al-Muthanna Province, southern Iraq, by multinational forces to Iraqi authorities in July, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said, "That means that the mission of the forces there, the Japanese forces there have been successfully completed."

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are "transitioning to a new way of contributing to success to Iraq," Hadley told reporters aboard Air Force One. He was accompanying President George W. Bush on his trip to Vienna for a summit between the United States and the European Union.

I'm not sure, but I think what Hadley's trying to say is that our few remaining allies are in their "last throes."

Test, One Two - Is This Thing On?

2006-06-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I've been kind of quiet lately. So shoot me. (Note to Dick "Dick" Cheney - that last bit was just a figure of speech.)

Yesterday, as I presume most of you know, was Fathers' Day. My own father is facing a minor (we hope) medical situation, so I took special pleasure in talking to him on the phone. If you're the sort of person who prays, or sacrifices goats, or whatever, you may want to include a nice thought for Dad.

This was my fourth Fathers' Day as an actual father, and I have enjoyed each one even more than the last. My son and I spent much of the morning playing his favorite Pokemon game on the Nintendo, and then we spent most of the afternoon watching School of Rock, the Jack Black movie, on DVD. My Lovely Bride bought the movie with the intent that Nick and I could watch it together - on several occasions, however, when the dialogue got a bit sassy, she shot me a look that clearly said "You're gonna deal with the notes home from preschool when he repeats this!" I, in turn, gave her a look intended to say "Hey, this was your idea."

Anyway, I felt a little bad for Nick during the movie, because it's his bad luck to have a father who views a film like School of Rock as a canonical text. I was busy pointing out key information throughout the early scenes, and then quizzing him during the second half of the movie. I am pleased to report that he can now consistently identify a Flying V and an SG; when we watch it again, I am confident that he will be able to pick out the Les Paul and the Thunderbird. (Obviously, Gibson got the product placement contract for this flick; if there is a sequel, I hope that Fender gets the nod so that Nick can learn to tell a Strat from a Tele.) He also, I think, understands the fundamental lessons that (1) a hot chick bass player brings tremendous value to her band (accord Kendra Smith, D'Arcy, and Tina Weymouth), even if she's only ten years old, and that (2) all drummers are hopeless flakes (Q: How can you tell when the stage is level? A: The drummer is drooling out of both sides of his mouth).

But the payoff came a bit later, as Nick and I were driving to the pool to enjoy family swim together. I asked him if he enjoyed the movie, and he said that he did. I asked him if he thought it was funny, and again, he said that he did. Finally, recognizing that the moral of the film represented a teachable moment, I asked him if he learned anything from it. After a short pause, he said:

Yeah. Don't boss people around until you hear their song.

Have I mentioned that my son is a genius?

Craaaaaaazzeeeeeee!

2006-06-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here's Rep. Curt Weldon (R - Looneybin), at a candidates' debate yesterday (emphasis supplied):

While [Democratic candidate Joseph] Sestak said Iraq was "not a clear nor a present danger" because no weapons of mass destruction have been found, Weldon said he knows of four sites in Basra and Nasiriyah that have yet to be searched for biological or chemical weapons.

"I think the jury is still out on WMD," said Weldon, who also believes Saddam Hussein may have smuggled the weapons to Syria with Russian assistance prior to the March 2003 invasion.

Whoa, Curt, slow down there - suppose we take you at your word (as if!), and grant that you really believe there are four sites in Iraq where chemical weapons may have been stored, but have not yet been searched. Two questions suggest themselves:

First, we've been in country for three years now. Why the hell haven't those sites been searched?

Second, assuming that there were once chemical weapons stored at these sites, what is the likelihood that anything lethal has not yet been looted by insurgents or combatants? And, as a followup, if any American troops were to be harmed by such weapons, would not the blame for that development fall squarely on the strategists who allowed them to sit undetected for three years?

Here's one more question - is Weldon off his meds?

Godless, Indeed!

2006-06-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Does it surprise anyone to learn that representatives of the church which mock-pious skankbomb Ann Coulter claims to attend have never seen there? I didn't think so.

Turning the Corner

2006-06-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Obviously, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a murderous thug and his death is good news - not because it's likely to staunch the flow of innocent blood in Iraq (it isn't), but because we may finally learn his most closely held secret: How it was, exactly, that he managed to grow back that missing leg. Also, we can stop wondering why we didn't kill the bastard last time we had the chance, because it's all water under the booby-trapped bridge now.

Of course, some people are being all snarky about the news - including my favorite blog:

The US military has announced the death by air raid of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Muss to his friends). Zarqawi was never as important inside Iraq as he was in Washington, where the Jordanian served as symbol of the Bush admin’s contention that insurgency in Iraq was largely the work of outside agitators. It’s hard to see what will change. After all, unlike our illegal immigrants, the Z Man was doing a job that many, many Iraqis are willing to do.

Update: A much less snarky - and immeasurably more educated - comment from Chris Allbritton:

So now we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the coming days and weeks. There will no doubt be a flare of violence thaht could last up to a week or so, but after that, If the level of violence starts to decrease, then that means the Sunnis are playing ball. Now it is time for the Shi’ites to curb their militias; that’s the deal. If that doesn’t happen, expect the Sunnis to let their fighters loose again.

Let me be clear - I shed no tears over al Zarqawi. He was a bastard through and through. But there is a good possibility, it seems to me, that his role in this tragedy was already complete. He set out to start a civil war, Sunni against Shi'ite, and I fear that his mission was accomplished (despite the lack of a commemorative photo-op on any aircraft carrier). If this is so, then his death now is much too little, much too late. I desperately want to be wrong about this, but I suspect that the damage is done, and will not be repaired anytime soon despite al Zarqawi's death.

Lies and the Lying Liars, Part - Oh, Hell, I Lost Count

2006-06-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Boil-infested hose-beast (and felonious vote-fraudster) Ann Coulter seems to challenge herself to reach new lows on a regular basis, but she'll find it difficult to outdo herself this time. She has now decided that 9/11 widows are fair game, which is enough to make even David Neiwert, usually possessed of an admirable gentility and professionalism, sputter with overt rage.

My guess is that her next move will be taunting disabled war veterans.

O Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!

2006-06-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

After a long and inexplicable hiatus, Fafblog! is back, and my life once again has meaning:

"The world hasn't ended!" says Giblets eatin our last piece a world. "It just happens to be going through a naturally-recurring cycle of world and not-world!"

"I dunno Giblets," says me. "The scientific consensus on the world seems to be that world-endification is caused by human activity like burnin fossil fuels an deforestation an that time we blew up the world."

"The world was a grave and gathering threat!" says Giblets. "There was no peaceful way to contain its mounting arsenal of earthquakes, hurricanes and foreigners."

"I always used to figure God would show up at the end a the world an beam me up to Raptureland in his magical funk-powered mothership," says me. "But that was before he got eaten by Supergod."

"Serves him right!" says Giblets. "If God wanted to go to heaven he should've accepted Metajesus as his personal lord and savior."

"Even then he'd still have to get past the height requirement," says me. "The sign on the big cardboard clown very clearly read 'you must be this tall to ride the afterlife'."

I don't care who you are - that right there is some righteous stuff!

Outta Space

2006-06-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

Sad news - Billy Preston, one of a half a dozen (or so) folks to have earned the honorific title of "fifth Beatle," has passed on at the age of 59, following a protracted battle with kidney failure.

Omens

2006-06-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you're sick to death of "news" stories about today being 6/6/06 and thus implying some demonic connection. Piffle. I would rather recall that today is the 62nd anniversary of D-Day, the commemoration of those who served and died in a time when this nation went to war for legitimate purposes.

It is also the 117th anniversary of the great Seattle fire, when thirty blocks - virtually the whole of downtown Seattle - were destroyed in a single afternoon.

Finally, today would have been my mother's 67th birthday. Best wishes, Mom, wherever you are.

Lies and the Lying Liars, Part III

2006-06-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

Bill O'Reilly, of course, caught red-handed (pun intended) exhuming McCarthy.

By the way - Bill, this gentleman would like to have a word with you:

If I were you, I would leave my falafel at home.

Update: In related news - and apropos of today's commemoration of the D-Day anniversary - we learn that the CIA protected über-Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann ("mastermind of the 'final solution' to exterminate Jews") for two years after learning of his whereabouts in 1958. Nice.

Lies and the Lying Liars, Part II

2006-06-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

What happens to an Associated Press reporter who submits an article (and a follow-up) which contain more factuals errors and omissions than commas? Why, he gets a $500 bonus, of course!

Lies and the Lying Liars, Part I

2006-06-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

This morning I happened to see this appalling, dishonest anti-union advertisement (WMV-format video), produced by an organization calling itself the "Center for Union Facts" [sic]. And who are these lying cretins? That's a good question:

The Center for Union Facts is a secretive front group for individuals and industries opposed to union activities. It is part of lobbyist Rick Berman's family of front groups including the Employment Policies Institute....

United Press International noted that "the group's spokesman refused to release the names of its donors or say where its funding came from."

Berman told Bloomberg reporter, Kim Bowman, that he had raised "about $2.5 million from companies, trade organizations and individuals, whom he declined to identify."

Sarah Longwell, a spokeswoman for the Center for Union Facts, echoed Berman's groups standard claim for secrecy on who funds their front groups. "The reason we don't disclose supporters is because unions have a long history of targeting anyone who opposes them, whether it be in a threatening way or by lodging campaigns against them," she told Detroit Free Press.

The paper reported that while Wal-Mart Stores denied funding the group it stated that "it has a relationship in which it exchanges union information with Berman, the group's head."

One interesting detail - the "workers" in the advertisement who are complaining about those predatory unions are, of course, portrayed by actors. One wonders whether these actors hold SAG or AFTRA cards.

As Midsummer Night Approaches...

2006-06-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

I apologize to my pathetic handful of regular readers who have been stopping by, looking for their regular diet of turgid analysis and banal commentary on this, my most humble page. I have been preoccupied in dealing with work, personal issues, attempts at real writing, and general ennui, but I will return. I am checking in now just to say that I love this time of year here at the 47th parallel -- as I write this, it's 10:00 PM and twilight is still lingering. Magnificent! Of course, paybacks are a bitch, and come December it will be getting dark by 4:00 in the afternoon, but as my Unlovely Ex-Bride used to say, fuck until Easter....

In Memoriam

2006-05-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Please take a moment today to think about the countless men and women in our armed forces who have paid the ultimate price in wars both just and unjust, and about the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children they have left behind. In a nation which maintains civilian control of the military - a genuinely radical notion - you and I bear the final responsibility to assure that the lives of those in uniform are never lightly risked and never, ever forgotten.

Blue Money

2006-05-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Remind me again how a single-payer health care system would destroy freedom of choice, by preventing patients from choosing their own doctor.

Veritas

2006-05-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

If you should visit the Harvard Business School's website, you will find this statement of "community standards:"

The HBS community defines itself by and actively embraces three fundamental standards:
* Respect for the rights, differences, and dignity of others

* Honesty and integrity in dealing with all members of the community

* Accountability for personal behavior

Developed through a student-led initiative, these clear, simple principles underlie our strong sense of community at HBS. They help create a lively, open, inspiring atmosphere for learning and growth, and they represent the bedrock standards effective leaders instill in their organizations and uphold in their daily lives. Everyone in the HBS community—MBA students, executive program participants, faculty, staff, and alumni—accepts a personal responsibility to integrate these standards into all aspects of their experience at HBS.

Posted on the wall of every classroom, our standards come through clearly in how we conduct ourselves and treat each other in and out of class. Ethical issues are also woven deeply throughout our curriculum, teaching, and research. For example, MBA students start their HBS experience with a "Foundations" class in which they create an ethical framework for decision making. More than 500 current HBS cases focus explicitly on a range of ethical questions entangled, as in life, with other business issues; faculty use them to help students grapple with the troubling tradeoffs and dilemmas real managers sometimes confront.

Bear all that in mind as I introduce you to Blake Gottesman:

A 26-year-old college dropout who carries President Bush’s breath mints and makes him peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches will follow in his boss’s footsteps this fall when he enrolls at Harvard Business School (HBS).

Though it is rare for HBS—or any other professional or graduate school—to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree, admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman, who for four years has served as special assistant and personal aide to Bush.

Gottesman, a Texas native who attended Claremont-McKenna College in California for one year, has long had ties to the Bush family. He dated the president’s daughter, Jenna Bush, nearly ten years ago when he attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School of Austin....

In his current role, Gottesman performs a wide range of duties, from dog-sitting the president’s Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, to carrying the president’s speeches and giving him the “two-minute warning” before a speech begins....

HBS spokesman James E. Aisner ’68 explained the decision to accept Gottesman, even though he is not a college graduate, by telling The Economist that “extraordinary circumstances will sometimes compel it to drop [its] rule” of only admitting students who hold bachelor's degrees.

Here's my question - how long do you suppose it will be before all of Gottesman's new classmates start calling him "Smithers" behind his back?

(Hat tip to Political Wire.)

If You Think Reading This Blog Is a Waste of Time, Remember - It Could Be Worse

2006-05-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Norbizness at Happy Furry Puppy Story Time is celebrating his third anniversary of blogging, and has opened his comments for a good, old-fashioned celebrity-style roast to commemorate the occasion. Take a moment to tell him how stupid his weekly "Sunday Coupocalypse" feature really is - he'll appreciate it.

America Idol Update

2006-05-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

I don't give a good God damn who wins, but if I did, I would be pulling for the guy with the grey hair. It's a tribal thing; you wouldn't understand.

Grippy

2006-05-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." (Mark Twain, with a nod to Atrios.)

My Sweet Lordi

2006-05-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

I think the real lesson to be taken from this year's Eurovision upset is this:

Never underestimate the value of featuring a hot chick in a Twisted Sister t-shirt in your video.

The iRod Shuffle, Vol. XIV: The Sound of Schizophrenia

2006-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Back in March, I said that I was going to start posting the track listings from mix discs I had made, in lieu of the old Friday Random Ten lists. Then my hard drive crashed and I lost my MP3 library, and sort of got off-track. Now, however, I'm finally ready to rock out with my cock out - here, with no further ado (but arguably with plenty of doo-doo), is the latest volume of my personal mix series, annotated for ~~her~~ your pleasure. Most of the links go to Amazon, so you may reproduce some or all of the magic yourself (while I get my cut).

1. "The Slacks" (Trip Shakespeare). This delightfully weird tune opens with some neo-folky harmony (think a sloppier New Christy Minstrels) setting up the narrative:
Can I tell you a romantic story
About the one-eyed lady in France?
I guess the King decreed that all the various princes
Should try to get inside her pants

Then the guitars and drums kick in, as the Rashomon-style story unfolds. We hear several of the lady's suitors claim to have conquered the fair maiden; the different versions agree in no particular but one - the key to bagging the babe lies in wearing the proper trousers.

2. "Thank God and Greyhound" (Roy Clark). Cheatin' songs don't get much more cynical than this. I especially like the way that the melody is slow and sad during the setup, then gets peppy when the philandering harpy gets on the bus as it pulls away from the depot. Good fun!

3. "For What It's Worth" (Rush). I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I knew I was getting old when I stopped hating Rush. This is from their recent all-covers EP, Feedback, and features some tasty guitar work by Alex Lifeson. It's also cool that the record has been released on vinyl.

4. "I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight" (Alice Stuart). I saw Alice Stuart do a free lunchtime concert in the park last year, and was absolutely blown away. She's getting to be an old woman now - she's been in the business for over 40 years - but she can still play some seriously greasy Telecaster, has excellent taste in material, and sings with real soul. My only beef with this track (an achingly beautiful Chris Wall tune, made more-or-less famous by Jerry Jeff Walker) is that my copy is a lo-fi MP3 downloaded from Stuart's website. One of these days, I'll have to buy the disc, especially since it also features a nice version of the song I want played at my funeral, Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings."

5. "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (Kenny Rogers and the First Edition). You never know where a good song will come from. Long before he afflicted the world with bad fake country music (and bad fried chicken), Rogers recorded this bizarre, acid-drenched gem with the help of a then-unknown session guitarist named Glen Campbell, who had obviously just invested in a whole rack of effects pedals. Easily one of the strangest songs ever recorded.

6. "I See the Rain" (Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs). I absolutely love this all-covers album by two artists who were clearly born too late, but most of the selections are fairly obvious. Not so this minor masterpiece originally recorded by The Marmalade, however, which Jimi Hendrix once named as the best British single of 1967. That endorsement notwithstanding, it was a flop everywhere except in the Netherlands, where it was a hit.

7. "Run to Me" (The Bee Gees). The Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs record also includes a version of this old chestnut, but the original is superior. By the way, am I the only one who didn't know that long-time Bowie sideman Carlos Alomar used to be in the Bee Gees?

8. "Obvious Song" (Joe Jackson). As much as I appreciate Elvis Costello, I never understood how he became so universally beloved even as Joe Jackson fades into semi-obscurity. Even his failures are interesting, and when he hits the mark he hits it hard. He is also one of the best live performers I've ever seen. This tune, from the otherwise uneven Laughter and Lust LP, is a good one, even if the lyrics are a bit (ahem) obvious, and features some killer piano ("killer" as in "Jerry Lee Lewis, if he had gone to Julliard").

9. "It Only Makes Me Laugh" (Danny Elfman). When is a solo album not a solo album? When it's So-Lo by Danny Elfman, which (curiously) features the contributions of Oingo Boingo on every track. If I ever meet Elfman, I'll ask him to explain that to me - right after I tell him how much I like this song.

10. "High School U.S.A." (Tommy Facenda). A slab of minimalist rock'n'roll from 1959, which features the name of several high schools from your own town - assuming you hail from one of the two dozen or so cities for which customized versions of this recording were made. I have the Seattle, version, of course, but feel free to look for your own.

11. "Beauty Deluxe" (Visqueen). Speaking of Seattle, how about a shout-out for the late, lamented Fastbacks? God, they were great - on certain days, I would argue that Kurt Bloch is the second best guitarist our fair city ever produced. The Fastbacks finally sputtered out, however, and bassist Kim Warnick went on to form Visqueen with drummer Ben Hooker and singer/songwriter/guitarist Rachel Flotard. Visqueen is slicker and heavier than the Fastbacks ever were, but shares their ear for a catchy pop melody. Alas, Warnick has since retired from music entirely (effective shortly after the recording of the album from which this track is taken) and has been replaced, for the time being at least, by Muffs' bassist Ronnie Barnett. And what about Kurt Bloch? He was last seen in a Blue Öyster Cult tribute band called 7 Screaming Diz Busters. The more you know....

12. "Echo Beach" (Martha and the Muffins). Part Canadian white-funksters, part New Wave power-poppers (kinda like Gang of Four meets the Go-Go's, and eats back bacon), Martha and the Muffins were too idiosyncratic to make it big. Too bad, 'cause this song's a classic.

13. "Last Hard Bible" (Kasey Chambers). I first raved about this album over two years ago. I will not repeat myself here, except to say that you're a fool if you don't own a copy. One question - what the hell is a "hard Bible?"

14. "Look-Ka Py Py" (The Meters). Wow! This is some seriously funky shizzle, ya' knizzle what I'm talkin' abizzle? Of all the many tragedies arising from the destruction and subsequent criminal neglect of the city of New Orleans, the one that may be felt hardest for the longest time (among those of us who did not lose friends or family, that is) is the loss of the New Orleans musical community. If this doesn't make you dance, you're officially beyond hope.

15. "Long Black Veil" (Marianne Faithfull). This old Lefty Frizell tune has been recorded about a zillion times, and pretty much every version is a winner (I have yet to hear Dave Matthew's version, so the possibility remains that there is a truly awful recording of the song in existence). Some people love Faithfull's voice, and some don't - I'm firmly in the former category. So, you do the math - a great song, a great singer (and throw in some nice guitar work), equals a hella great recording.

16. "A Certain Girl" (Yardbirds). The original version of this song is by First Gear; my favorite version is by Warren Zevon. This version was probably the biggest hit of the bunch, however, and it's not bad at all. Hardcore Yardbirds fans probably consider this a lightweight throwaway; but then again, hardcore Yardbirds fans cling to the illusion that Jeff Beck isn't a hack - so what do they know?

17. "Maureen" (Fountains of Wayne). One would have to be a slavish, slobbering fan of quirky power pop to tolerate Fountains of Wayne. Fortunately, I'm a slavish, slobbering fan of quirky power pop - I love 'em!

18. "Superman" (The Clique). If you thought this was an R.E.M. tune, you failed Rock History 101. Follow the Amazon link above, and not only can you buy a copy of the CD (for the serious-collectors-only price of $48.99, as of this writing), but you can read the customer reviews, in which a couple original members of the band communicate with each other for the first time in years. Cool!

Taken all together, there's an hour of your life you'll never get back. And finally - happy birthday to my man Pete Townshend, who turns 61 today. Never fear; the kids are still alright.

Headline of the Day

2006-05-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

93-Year-Old Man's Pants Catch Fire

Torture, and Other State Secrets

2006-05-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Once again, the courts abrogate their duty as a co-equal branch of government:

A U.S. judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against former CIA Director George Tenet by a German of Lebanese origin who says he was abducted and tortured by the American spy agency.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis agreed with government arguments that moving forward with the case of Khaled el-Masri would risk national security by exposing state secrets about CIA activities vital to the U.S. war on terrorism.

"While dismissal of the complaint deprives el-Masri of an American judicial forum for vindicating his claims .... el-Masri's private interests must give way to the national interest in preserving state secrets," Ellis wrote in a 17-page ruling.

Apparently, Judge Ellis holds that torture of innocent civilians is "vital to the U.S. war on terrorism." That's good to know. It's also good to know that your right to be free from torture must give way to the national interest in keeping the details of said torture secret. If only the trains ran on time, then we'd be all set.

Fecal Matter - Some Call It Offal; We Call It Tax Deductable

2006-05-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

ExxonMobil and its friends, operating collectively under the name "the Competitive Enterprise Institute," has produced an unintentionally hilarious TV spot (QuickTime) stating that carbon dioxide is a wonderful thing because, after all, we excrete it. Really, that's their message. Their tagline is "carbon dioxide - some call it pollution; we call it life."

Imagine the possibilities:

Perspiration - some call it "sweat;" we call it "nature's Gatorade."

Dead skin cells - some call it dust; we call it an excellent source of protein for the poor.

Urine - some call it "pee;" we call it an excellent way to sign your name in the snow.

And speaking of snow, a second spot produced by CEI claims that the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps are actually growing. Oh, really? From NASA (emphasis supplied):

Based on recent research using NASA's airborne laser altimeter, scientists have identified pronounced thinning of Greenland's ice cap. In the following animation [warning - MPEG], blues indicate areas where the loss of ice is greatest, and yellows indicate regions that are apparently thickening. Gray areas indicate no significant change in ice thickness there. Notice how the thinning is most severe at the coasts. As ice melts near the edges, it gives up moisture to the slightly warmer air around it. That air rises to higher altitudes inland and the moisture precipitates out as snow, increasing inland elevations. Thus, a slight thickening in the interior supports observations of a greater net loss to the overall sum of Greenland's ice cap.

To sum up: The Competitive Enterprise Institute - some call it dangerous; I call it dangerous and stupid.

Credit Where It's Due

2006-05-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R - Wisconsin) is generally a scary piece of work, and not someone I'm normally inclined to compliment, but on this topic he's on the side of the angels. Maybe he'll manage to embarrass some of the members of the corporate-whore wing of the Democratic party to join him.

Update: Good Lord, are the planets in some weird alignment or something? First it was James "Dipwad" Sensenbrenner, and now the Queen of Triangulation herself, Hillary "Bride of Lieberman" Clinton - talk about your "corporate-whore wing of the Democratic party"! - has also signed on in support of net neutrality. The next sound you hear might be my head exploding.

Down the Memory Hole

2006-05-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Just the other day, I mentioned the racist ramblings of the subhuman creature calling itself Vox Day (get it? Vox Day? As in "Vox Dei?" Get it? Sheesh - did all of you people sleep through your Latin class?) over at World Nut Daily, citing with approval the efficiency with which the Nazis "rid themselves" (his words) of six million Jews, and suggesting that we could rid ourselves of those pesky wetbacks with similar alacrity. Nice guy, ol' "Vox;" don't you think?

Well, anyway, today I learn that the original WND column has been scrubbed. The lesson here is that, among wingnuts, it's okay to be a flaming racist - the expurgated column remains in place - but it's not okay to leave an identifiable slime trail.

Remember - we've always been at war with Eastasia.

The Early Bird

2006-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Billmon stole my joke.

Update: Actually, it looks as though the ever-comely Maru beat both of us.

Where Were the Minutemen When We Needed Them?

2006-05-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

By way of Political Wire, we learn that Constitution-shreddin', torture-lovin' Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told CNN it was "unclear" whether his own grandparents entered this country legally.

Y'know, it's absolutely true that immigrants fill jobs that no native-born American would take - such as whelping a despicable little twerp like Alberto Gonzales.

Bury My Heart at Saks Fifth Avenue

2006-05-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering, in wingnut/journalist-speak, "Native American" now means "white people."

Irony: Dead, Buried, and Partially Decomposed

2006-05-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

There is no indication that anyone, anywhere, intended this to be a joke:

Libya wants to work with the United States to spread democracy around the world after Washington restored full diplomatic ties with Tripoli, the head of Libya's de facto single ruling party said on Monday.

So, after we finish spreading democracy (with Libya's help), I presume we will move on to exporting superior dentistry (aided by Great Britain).

When You Put It Like That...

2006-05-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Leave it to World Net Daily to offer this cheery comparison (emphasis supplied):

Dear Jorge plans to address the nation tonight, a speech wherein he will almost surely attempt to deceive citizens into believing that he does not wish the mass migration from Mexico to continue unabated. He will likely offer some negligible resources for law enforcement and border security – resources which will never materialize – in return for an amnesty program that will grant American citizenship to the Mexican nationals who have helped lower America's wage rates by 16 percent over the last 32 years.

And he will be lying, again, just as he lied when he said: "Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic – it's just not going to work."

Not only will it work, but one can easily estimate how long it would take. If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of 6 million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society, it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.

Oh, my God - he just Godwinned himself!

Wake Up Call

2006-05-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

Do we suppose that this, finally, might be enough to motivate journalists to do some actual, you know, journalism?

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.

ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.

The White Man's Burden

2006-05-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

FOX News' [sic] John Gibson, an embarrassment to anyone with a pulse:

On the May 11 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, host John Gibson advised viewers during the "My Word" segment of his program to "[d]o your duty. Make more babies." He then cited a May 10 article, which reported that nearly half of all children under the age of five in the United States are minorities. Gibson added: "By far, the greatest number [of children under five] are Hispanic. You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic." Gibson later claimed: "To put it bluntly, we need more babies." Then, referring to Russia's projected decline in population, Gibson claimed: "So far, we are doing our part here in America but Hispanics can't carry the whole load. The rest of you, get busy. Make babies, or put another way -- a slogan for our times: 'procreation not recreation'."

The Mote In Your Neighbor's Eye; The Beam In Your Own

2006-05-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

If you look at page 18 of the latest (May 15) edition of Newsweek, you will find this sentence:

[Harvard student Kaavya] Viswanathan has admitted that passages from [author Megan] McCafferty's "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings" were "inadvertently" included in "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life."

Note the quotes around the word "inadvertently," implying some doubt as to how "inadvertent" the error really was. Now, then - turn four pages to page 22, and look at the "Editor's Note" at the end of the letters section (which, oddly enough, does not appear to be online):

In our cover story on the Duke lacrosse team, a description of lacrosse players closely tracked language in a story on the lacrosse culture that appeared in Slate, the online magazine. The language was inadvertently included in a reporter's file. Newsweek offers its apologies to Slate.

What, no "scare quotes" around the word "inadvertently" on this occasion? What gives?

Picture This

2006-05-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

No comment (emphasis supplied):

A city man killed last year as he led a city police officer on a foot chase through Marina Village, died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, not from shots fired by police, according to a report issued Thursday.

Raylyn "Ray Ray" George, 24, died from a gunshot wound to the back of his head on Aug. 25 in the city's South End, according to the nine-page report released by State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict.

Math Is Hard

2006-05-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Few people are so stupid as to think that, when Visa raises their limit, they received a salary increase. And yet people still cling to the weird belief that President Squinty McDilhole has cut taxes. This is absurd. Taxes haven't been reduced, they've simply been deferred. You may not have to pay them, but your children and grandchildren most certainly will (and I wouldn't expect them to be happy about it, either).

Oh, and about that increase in your Visa limit - don't go wasting all that debt capacity on food, shelter, and medical care, or you may end up in over your head.

Max is Mad

2006-05-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Remember when Mel Gibson was every wingnut's favorite director? Sic transit gloria mundi:

Film star and director Mel Gibson has launched a scathing attack on US President George W Bush, comparing his leadership to the barbaric rulers of the Mayan civilisation in his new film Apocalypto.

The epic, due for release later this year, captures the decline of the Maya kingdom and the slaughter of thousands of inhabitants as human sacrifices in a bid to save the nation from collapsing.

Gibson reveals he used present day American politics as an inspiration, claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power.

He tells British film magazine Hotdog, "The fear-mongering we depict in the film reminds me of President Bush and his guys".

(Via WTF Is It Now?!?)

A "Qwest"ion of Trust

2006-05-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here's an opportunity to let the nice folks at Qwest know that you appreciate their good corporate citizenship. If you're like me, and jump at every chance to let some major corporation know when it's pissed you off, it seems as though you should spread some love when it's appropriate, too.

Rape Me

2006-05-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

People are morons:

Americans by nearly a 2-1 ratio call the surveillance of telephone records an acceptable way for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, expressing broad unconcern even if their own calling patterns are scrutinized.

Lending support to the administration's defense of its anti-terrorism intelligence efforts, 63 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll say the secret program, disclosed Thursday by USA Today, is justified, while far fewer, 35 percent, call it unjustified.

Indeed, 51 percent approve of the way President Bush is handling the protection of privacy rights, while 47 percent disapprove -- hardly a robust rating, but one that's far better than his overall job approval, in the low 30s in recent polls.

It gets worse. According to the article, the wholesale collection of calling data is acceptable to 60% of independents, and 45% of Democrats. Sixty percent of "moderates" (the article doesn't specify, but I presume this is based on self-identification) support the NSA data mining and collection operation, as do over 40% of "liberals!"

Now, this is just one poll; I will want to see some additional data before I give it too much credit, but even if the numbers for Democrats and liberals (not to mention the population in general) are overstated by a factor of two, it's still shocking and saddening news. The possibility that a majority of Americans approve of this administration's protection of privacy rights tells me that either Americans no longer value their privacy at all, that Americans in general are completely clueless about what's going on in this once-free nation, or (perhaps most likely) both. I fear that the battle is completely lost.

Update: Perhaps people aren't as moronic as I thought. Jane Hamsher notes that this particular poll was conducted by a man with a well established reputation for wankery.

"Tens of Millions"

2006-05-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Oh, sweet Jesus! It was as bad as we thought:

"The phone call records of tens of millions of Americans" have been secretly collected by the National Security Agency since President Bush authorized the so-called warrantless eavesdropping program after the 9/11 attacks, USA TODAY is reporting.

Citing "people with direct knowledge of the arrangement," the newspaper reports that the program "is far more expansive than what the White House has (previously) acknowledged." It has also been conducted, USA TODAY writes, with cooperation from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth....

On Feb. 6, USA TODAY wrote that "the National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives."

USA TODAY's new story, however, provides evidence that the program has not been aimed at collecting information just on calls to or from suspected terrorists overseas, as officials have insisted, but also on calls placed "across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others." The NSA, a source told the newspaper, has put together " the largest database ever assembled in the world" in this effort.

Meanwhile, efforts by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility to determine whether DoJ attorneys who aided in the administration of the domestic wiretap program acted ethically have been stymied by the NSA's refusal to grant the investigators the necessary security clearance:

The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

"We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our investigation because OPR has been denied security clearances for access to information about the NSA program," OPR counsel H. Marshall Jarrett wrote to Hinchey. Hinchey's office shared the letter with The Associated Press.

Jarrett wrote that beginning in January, his office has made a series of requests for the necessary clearances. Those requests were denied Tuesday.

Of course, I don't need to remind you that Michael Hayden, the man largely responsible for this extraconstitutional outrage (and who is utterly unaware of the text of the Fourth Amendment) has recently recieved a nice promotion. It figures - I hear he's doing a heckuva job.

Update: Pretty much as soon as I posted this, the USATodayBlog URL seemed to go dead - so here's the link to the actual story, rather than the blog post. Also, consider this from firedoglake:

It’s right in line with what they did last week — finally agreeing to Nancy Pelosi’s request to draw up a list of the members of Congress who were briefed on the program, and then classifying it so she couldn’t see it. It was the childish move of a petulant, power-mad emotional 8 year-old.

Frankly, I think that comparing this President to a petulant 8-year-old is an insult to 8-year-olds, most of whom would make a better President than the one we have now.

You Would Think That the Imminence of Death Would Do the Trick

2006-05-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here's our Dear Leader, speaking directly to our valued elders (emphasis supplied):

President Bush has heard pleas for an extension of the deadline to sign up for new Medicare drug coverage from lawmakers, seniors advocacy groups and finally two women in his audience Tuesday. He’s rejected them all.

“Deadlines are important,” the president said at a retirement community, less than a week before the last day for most seniors and the disabled to enroll in the program without facing higher prices. “Deadlines help people understand there’s finality and people need to get after it.”

You know, even allowing for his policy blunders, I can see how it is that this guy is so very popular, given his unerring ear.

Dirty Dozen

2006-05-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

In news only a Seattle Seahawks fan could love, the ridiculous "12th man" controversy has been settled.

Aw, Shit!

2006-05-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that Porter Goss, John "Nunkiller" Negroponte, and William H.T. "Bucky" Bush (that would be the Empty Flight Suit's uncle) are all members of my old college fraternity. You know, it's more than a little out of character with my general countercultural mindset, but I look back on my Greek experience fondly and I always used to be proud of my fraternity. Today, not so much.